How To: Do Hindu Push Ups

Everyone loves a strong, muscular and flexible upper body. Even if you happen to love squats or even have a 6-pack, the fact is that a well-developed chest, arms, and shoulders are a must for that complete look. Having said that, I must admit that with most trainees, the problem is to get them to train their lower bodies rather than their upper bodies. After all, gyms are filled with so-called bench press champs.

In recent years, a very old and traditional Indian exercise has gained popularity in the global strength and fitness community. That exercise is the Hindu Push Up and it has travelled from the local Desi-style gymnasiums to the far corners of the world. People everywhere are reaping the benefits of this wonderful exercise, and its time you did too.

Here's my training partner Samrat Sen demonstrating how these Hindu Push Ups are done:

Benefits of Hindu Push Ups
Build Muscle:  

They help build up the muscles in your upper body. Your triceps, shoulders, abs and chest will benefit the most.

Improved Stamina:

 When done in high repetitions with deep breathing, Hindu Push Ups will help develop lung power. 

Better flexibility: 

 They will also improve flexibility in the shoulders, hips and the upper and lower back.

Position
Begin with your arms parallel to each other and your body as far back as possible.

If you have very flexible shoulders, you can keep your hands close. If not, (and this is recommended for most people) spread them a bit more than shoulder width. Elbows should be out at 45° or closer into the body.

Beginners should keep their feet wider than shoulder width. Advanced trainees can keep their feet closer at around hip width or even narrower. Try to keep your feet as straight as possible.

Movement
Start by taking a deep breath, position your chest between your arms, and get as close as possible to the ground without touching it.

Then move forward and raise yourself till your hands are locked out. Then breathe out when on top.

Quickly return to the starting position and repeat. If you have to rest between reps, do so in the starting position.

The speed of the movement should be moderate while getting a good stretch at both the start and finish positions


Common errors
Letting your knees and waist touch the ground.

Going up and down straight and not in an arc or semicircle.


I recommend that beginners start with 3 to 5 sets of 5 reps, and do these everyday to learn faster. Once you start getting the hang of it, you can do 1 to 3 sets and do as many reps as possible. If you lack the strength to do even 1 rep, then start by doing them at the start of your workouts. Advanced trainees can do it at the end of their workouts for a great finisher to help release more growth hormones.

courtesy Flickr Creative Commons user SuperFantastic/Arnav Sarkar